A pioneer in medicine for eight centuries, the University intends to remain so in the digital age with the creation of ESNbyUM. This digital health school will begin training future healthcare professionals—as well as lawyers, engineers, and administrative staff—starting in 2023. This project is supported by the government as part of the “Skills and Professions of the Future” call for expressions of interest and will serve as the foundation for the region’s future center of excellence in digital health.

“For the past decade or so, digital technology has been revolutionizing the healthcare sector and has become part of the daily routine for professionals who use software, electronic health records, or who deal with issues related to identity protection, cybersecurity, or telemedicine,” explains Maurice Hayot, a professor at the University of Montpellier’s Faculty of Medicine and a hospital physician at the University Hospital. “However, at present, there is no specific training dedicated to these issues, despite all the problems this can pose in terms of security, confidentiality, and so on.”

The highest level of domestic funding

To address this gap, UM asked Maurice Hayot, supported by a project team of experts in the field, to respond to the call for expressions of interest (AMI) titled “Skills and Professions of the Future,” launched by the government as part of the Investment for the Future 4 program (France 2030). “To develop our project, we brought together professors, researchers, trainers, and companies with the goal of building a digital health school that truly aligns with professional expertise,” explains Maurice Hayot. It was a winning bet, as the Montpellier project is not only among the 66 winners selected this summer by the government, but it also secured the largest funding in the “digital health training programs” category, receiving the substantial sum of 4 million euros.

The Region, which aims to make this project the cornerstone of its future center of excellence in digital health, will contribute 600,000 euros. These substantial sums are in addition to the funds allocated by the consortium members, foremost among which are, of course, the University of Montpellier and the university hospitals in Montpellier and Nîmes, as well as training organizations and private companies (see box). In total, the School of Digital Health will have a budget of nearly 8 million euros.

Five out of five

“The call for proposals suggested targeting at least one of the five target audiences listed. We chose to target all five, first because we have a track record of training in this field in Montpellier, and second because we want to lay the groundwork for a center of excellence in digital health training that will become a national benchmark. ” This naturally includes future healthcare professionals, whether they are students of medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, midwifery, or enrolled in training institutes for healthcare or nursing professions, or those pursuing paramedical careers such as physical therapists or occupational therapists, as well as professionals in adapted physical activity from the STAPS program…

Next come digital specialists (engineering scientists, technology specialists, etc.), health and social care leaders, and legal experts, because“we need specialists in digital health law to support and protect patients, professionals, and institutions that use digital health,” explains Maurice Hayot. Finally, there isa need forexpert professionals capable of certifying digital medical devices and applications —“something France sorely lacks in order to become an international leader,” he adds.

Named ESNbyUM, short for “École de santé numérique de l’Université de Montpellier,” this school“should not be viewed as a school in the strict sense of the term, but rather in the sense of ‘setting a standard’ by imparting generic or specific skills to each audience, some of which constitute a core knowledge framework defined by the Ministry of Health through the Ministerial Delegation for Digital Health, ” continues Maurice Hayot. Specifically, for undergraduate health students, this will involve skill modules integrated into current curricula for widespread implementation starting in the 2023 academic year. These will cover health data, cybersecurity, digital health tools, telehealth, and health communication. For graduate and postgraduate students, or for professionals enrolled in continuing education, customized modules closely aligned with their professional practices and specialties will be offered later this year.

The 6P Approach to Education

“Personalized” is one of the key words in the educational approach designed and developed for this program by Maurice Hayot’s team.“Our goal with ESNbyUM is to create an innovative and effective educational model to train professionals who will practice humanistic digital health, and to ensure that this model can be replicated in other cities. “We want to develop and implement a ‘precision pedagogy’ where everyone can acquire the specific skills they need for their practice, based on their background, availability, or geographic location within the region,” the professor emphasizes. This method, dubbed “6P Pedagogy,” is based on six pillars: Personalized; Preventive“meaning it prevents people from abandoning the field due to insufficient training”; Predictive“capable of forecasting future needs and thus the digital health professions of tomorrow”; Participatory“empowering learners to take ownership of their learning choices and pathways”; Evidence-based and Practice-centered.

More specifically, this school will be built around the creation of a digital campus where students and professionals in training will have access to various spaces: an introduction to digital health terminology, challenges for students and trainees, an e-lab connected to the business world, resources for becoming a trainer oneself, and opportunities for dialogue with and among citizens.“This innovative space was designed in collaboration with the Institute of Business Administration (IAE) to enable people from different professions or specialties to work together on the same project. In the digital age, a healthcare professional can no longer work in isolation; they must interact with engineers, lawyers,and others,” notes Maurice Hayot. Funded for a five-year period, ESNbyUM aims to become the new French model for training in emerging healthcare professions.

They support ESNbyUM: